{"product_id":"lost-in-the-funhouse-paperback","title":"Lost in the Funhouse - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Barth\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eNATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST - John Barth's lively, highly original collection of short pieces is a major landmark of experimental fiction exploring themes of purpose and the meaning of existence. \u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"[Barth] ran riot over literary rules and conventions, even as he displayed, with meticulous discipline, mastery of and respect for them.\" --\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom its opening story, \"Frame-Tale\"--printed sideways and designed to be cut out by the reader and twisted into a never-ending Mobius strip--to the much-anthologized \"Life-Story,\" whose details are left to the reader to \"fill in the blank,\" Barth's acclaimed collection challenges our ideas of what fiction can do. Highlights include the Homerian story-wthin-a-story-within-a-story (times seven) of \"Menalaiad, ' and \"Night-Sea Journey,\" a first-person account of a confused human sperm on its way to fertilize an egg. All of the characters in \u003ci\u003eLost in the Funhouse \u003c\/i\u003eare searching, in one way or another, for their purpose and the meaning of their existence. Together, their stories form a kaleidescope of exuberant metafictional inventiveness.\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eBarth's lively, highly original collection of short pieces is a major landmark of experimental fiction. Though many of the stories gathered here were published separately, there are several themes common to them all, giving them new meaning in the context of this collection.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Barth\u003c\/b\u003e (1930-2024) was an American writer celebrated for his postmodern and metafictional fiction. Barth's first novel, \u003ci\u003eThe Floating Opera\u003c\/i\u003e, was published in 1956, followed by \u003ci\u003eThe End of the Road. \u003c\/i\u003eBarth achieved critical and commercial success in the 1960s with \u003ci\u003eThe Sot-Weed Factor \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGiles Goat-Boy\u003c\/i\u003e. His collection of interconnected stories, \u003ci\u003eLost in the Funhouse\u003c\/i\u003e, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1969. His other works include \u003ci\u003eChimera\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of three novellas that won the National Book Award in 1973; \u003ci\u003eLetters\u003c\/i\u003e, an epistolary novel; \u003ci\u003eSabbatical: A Romance\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eThe Friday Book\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of essays.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 224\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 8.53 x 5.15 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e March 01, 1988\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53454816084275,"sku":"9780385240871","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0990\/0746\/3731\/files\/79jXemioCc9780385240871.webp?v=1781222854","url":"https:\/\/rbangel-store.myshopify.com\/products\/lost-in-the-funhouse-paperback","provider":"The Celestial Starlit Phoenix ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}